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Filipino-American Coalition of Florida Supports House Res. 121

I went on an amazing weekend conference to West Palm Beach and met with several of the key Filipino American leaders in the state of Florida who represent over 85,000 Filipino American constituents. I was so impressed with their dedication and their agenda concerning the Filipino Veterans Equity Bill, the Immigration Bill and the development of disaster action plans to support local residents in the preparation for and aftermath of hurricanes as well as an outreach program to natural disasters in their ancestral land, the islands of the Philippines. Most exciting is the leadership's desire to educate their communities on the upcoming presidential candidates, the issues and their creation of an action plan to raise voter participation among the Filipino American community in the state of Florida. They are hoping to join forces with the larger Asian Pacific American voting community and working to make some strong and positive changes.

I felt at ease sharing with them the stories of the lolas. Many of the leaders identified with the stories of Lolas Remedios, Prescilla, and Cristeta for they too were children of Leyte. They were in awe because they admitted that growing up there, they had not heard these stories. Of course, the women had been silent for 50 years after the war. Many of us never knew of their stories until recently.

I suppose this is why it is so important to share their lives and their fight for justice. People don't know, but once you hear the stories, like the key leaders of the Filipino-American Coalition of Florida, your hearts go ablaze, and you know the right thing to do.

Here is their hand-written letter to House Speaker Pelosi. Another letter is being drafted to all Congress persons in the state of Florida. And leaders have promised to educate their communities and begin their own letter writing campaigns.

The organizations of the Filipino American Coalition of Florida are also joining 121 Coalition in support of House Resolution 121.

On Behalf of the Filipino-American communities in Florida, which make up one of the fastest growing populations in the state, we would like to urge your good office to support House Resolution 121, encouraging Japan to take full responsibility and make a formal apology to the 200,000 women and girls of Asia who were subjected to systematic rape and enslavement during WW2, from the Japanese Imperial Army.

Sending a clear message that the trauma inflicted upon these "comfort women" is intolerable, inhumane and unjust -- is the least we can do to make up for the atrocities.

Sincerely,

Filipino-American Coalition of Florida

Council for Filipino American Organizations (representing ten Filipino American organizations)

Bataan Corregidor Memorial Foundation

Fil-Am Council of North East Florida (representing 9 Filipino American Organizations)

No. I think they want to make sure they have the House's full support. This is a critical time for House Res 121. It is extremely important that constituents write their Congress man or woman and ask them to co-sponsor the bill and to tell them why it is so important. This is a good time for the Filipino American community at large to unite and support our lolas -- and to carry on this respect for our elders by supporting the Filipino Veteran's Equity Bill too.

So if you could encourage your friends and family and colleagues to write Congress, I'd appreciate it.

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Maria Rosa Henson, or Lola Rosa, was the first Filipina Comfort Woman of WWII to come forward publicly on September 12, 1992. Because of Lola Rosa, many other Filipinas who had been living with this secret for over 50 years found the courage to come forward and finally speak their truth, finally ask for their apology, finally free themselves from the stories.

Here is an excerpt from her book, COMFORT WOMAN: Slave of Destiny (Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, 1996). This passage occurs in 1943. She's 16 years old and she has just been abducted and placed into a garrison, a former town hospital close to Magalang, Pampanga near Manila.

Without warning, a Japanese soldier entered my room and pointed his bayonet at my chest. I thought he was going to kill me, but he used his bayonet to slash my dress and tear it open. I was too frightened to scream. And then he raped me. When he was done, other soldiers came into my room and they took turns raping me.

The sun streams in through the wall-sized window, casting afternoon light on our family room. Outside the trees sway vibrant and green, shade a small figure of Mama Mary. She welcomes me too with arms stretched and hands waiting. Inside, noise percolates from every room of the house. I am home. From my suitcase I pull a salmon colored tapestry. When you first glance at it, the greens, blues and reds flash a beautiful montage of color. The folds unwind and reveal the fine embroidery.

I’m telling my mother and sister-in-law that when Lola Remedios learned I was coming, she began working on this piece as gift to me. It took her all six months to get this far in the tapestry. Every piece – every letter and image has been cut from other fabrics and painstakingly hand-sewn into the cloth. Except for the missing D where she has sewn, “(D)ecember 20, 1942, Dito Ako Nahuli Sa Lugar ng Baryo Esperanza,” it’s all there – the Dagitan River, green…

Lola Precsilla Bartonico was born on January 6, 1926 on the island of Leyte, Philippines. Here is an excerpt from Lola Prescilla’s testimony to the Japanese government:

One day in the late months of 1943 when I was about 17 years old, the Japanese soldiers captured us as we were hiding in one of the air raid shelters. We were only two women in that group who were all my relatives. They started raping my cousin while the other soldiers tied up the men. I was about 17 years old then. Then they tied me and one soldier raped me. I wanted to resist but I was too afraid to for fear of getting killed. After, they brought us to the town of Burauen and I was brought to the elementary school which they converted into garrison. We arrive in there late afternoon. I saw around 15 women who were also raped like what they did to me. After that, I was brought to the Home Economics Building and saw two women inside.

Then my suffering started at the hands of the Japanese soldiers. We were bein…